In 1959, the United States welcomed Alaska and Hawaii into its arms, the nation mourned the loss of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper on the day music died, and Busch Gardens opened it's doors. But before the calendar turned over to the decade of love, Maitland Winter Park Plumbing opened its doors — and they haven't stopped yet.

 

Maitland Winter Park Plumbing will celebrate its gold anniversary this year, and the company is on its third generation of local ownership. With the economy in a full-blown recession now, and having survived previous recessions, they are glad to be fairing well these days.

 

"We're very lucky," said Sharon Peterson, who manages the company with her husband, Eric. "We just keep standing like the old oak trees."

 

Maitland Winter Park Plumbing has been a member of the Maitland Chamber of Commerce since 1960.

 

"Fifty years obviously speaks volumes about a business in this day and age," said Mary Hodge, the executive director of the chamber, calling the plumbing business a "real treasure" in Maitland. "I have a real comfort level with recommending them, not just to chamber members, but to my neighbors. … I use them for my plumbing needs."

 

A lot can happen in 50 years. They've seen the rise of big box stores as competition — Lowes and Home Depot — as well as the evolution of the plumbing business. As a company, they've also seen their fair share of recessions.

 

If you ask Peterson how to survive a recession, the answer seems simple enough — good business practice and client building.

 

"I think that's why we've stayed in business for this long," Peterson said. "If one of our employees makes a mistake — and it happens, no one is perfect — we stand behind it and fix it."

 

"If we were a tad bit shady, in this economy, we would've been out of here," she added.

 

With 50 years in the plumbing business, Peterson and her family have gotten some incredible calls. They once spent two days working with the city of Maitland to find a man's $25,000 Rolex. They've recovered $60,000 and $70,000 diamond earrings from down the tube. Once, they retrieved a live hand grenade.

 

And then there are the animal calls — frogs and snakes in toilets and raccoons and cats in the wall.

 

"Sometimes you question yourself, like, is this a prank?" Peterson said.

 

Peterson's grandfather Charles Jeremiah — known to most as Chig — moved to Maitland from New York before starting the plumbing business. He worked as a volunteer police officer for the Maitland Police Department — eventually becoming chief — and actively helped form the Asbury United Methodist Church in Maitland.

 

The business was passed on to Peterson's father, Charles Mercer, and her uncle Burt. Peterson started working for the plumbing business in 1989 while she was a junior at Oviedo High School, and eventually took the reins.

 

While there are perks to running a family business, there's also some added pressure.

 

"Having a family business, it's great, but it's scary," she said. "You have that 'if business goes down, everyone goes down' feeling."

 

As the plumbing business became more specialized, so did Maitland Winter Park Plumbing. They used to do everything from sewers to mainlines to new construction. Now they focus on service, re-piping and remodeling jobs, as well as the retail sales from their specialty parts store.

 

As the years have gone on, they could have cut a lot of costs, but didn't. The end result, though, is a family that has grown to include all of Maitland Winter Park Plumbing's employees.

 

"We're not the cheapest, but, for our employees, we're family," Peterson said.

 

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Maitland Winter Park Plumbing, celebrating its 50th year, offers service, re-piping and remodeling jobs. The family owned business also features a specialty parts store, located at 210 N. Swoope Ave. in Maitland. For more information call 407-647-7996 or visit MaitlandWinterParkPlumbing.com.